Category — Reveries

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When the Costa Concordia capsized last month, people described the panic and chaos during a rather unruly evacuation as reminiscent of the pandemonium on board the Titanic as it sank nearly 100 years ago. I remembered hearing this song in the Harry Smith Anthology of American Music and decided it would be fitting for the Folk Den’s February release. There are many versions of this. I combined the two that I liked best, says Roger McGuinn in The Folk Den. (listen)

Steve Phelps navigates innovative pathways at NASCAR. By Tim Manners. Baseball, football, basketball, hockey — all are great American pastimes with amazing stories to tell. But it’s hard to name a sport more organically rooted in American popular culture than stock-car racing — popularized, as it was, by bootleggers trying to outrun revenuers in the 1930s and ’40s.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen: "I recorded the vocals and acoustic guitar at the Lee’s “Farm Niente” over Thanksgiving 2011. When I got home I overdubbed the Rickenbacker 370/12/RM JETGLO which Bill Lee graciously gave me,” says Roger McGuinn in The Folk Den. (listen)

“This is a traditional Irish song that I first heard at the Chicago folk club The Gate of Horn sung by Tommy Makem and the Clancy Brothers,” says Roger McGuinn in The Folk Den.

The lab stone was a stone held in the cobbler’s lap, used for beating materials into shape." (listen)

“Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie” is said to be the most famous cowboy song. It was derived from a sea song called “The Sailor’s Grave” or “The Ocean Burial” which began with the line: “O bury me not in the deep deep sea,” says Roger McGuinn in The Folk Den.

A number of popular performers have recorded versions of “Bury Me Not On The Lone Prairie” including Moe Bandy, Johnny Cash, Burl Ives, Tex Ritter and Roy Rogers. Some even turn the meaning around by saying “Bury Me Out On The Lone Prairie." (listen)

Shopper marketing has jelled as a brand-building discipline. By Chris Hoyt. What are the current trends in shopper marketing? What elements can be isolated to define best practice? As many readers know, The Hub Magazine has regularly surveyed the industry with the objective of answering these questions since 2006 and just completed the latest survey on shopper marketing at the end of April, creatively entitled “Shopper Marketing 2011.”

This year’s survey generated 243 responses — over 50 percent more than The Hub’s first survey on this subject in March, 2006. Respondents include representatives from 131 companies, 20 countries and six continents. While the majority is from packaged goods (65 percent), other verticals are retail, automotive, apparel, computers/software, healthcare/pharmaceutical and media and entertainment. … read >>

One of my favorite folk albums is “Thar She Blows” with A. L. Lloyd and Ewan MacColl on vocals, Peggy Seeger on banjo/guitar and John Cole on harmonica, says Roger McGuinn in The Folk Den. I recorded this song in Lloyd’s vocal style, adding mandolin, banjo and guitar. (listen)

Authenticity in brand identity is hard to fake. A discussion featuring Tony Pace of Subway, Jeff Murray of the University of Arkansas, Jim Geikie of Burt’s Bees and Dave Fiore of Catapult.

What makes a brand authentic? Jeff Murray: I see three or four strategies at work. One is what I call a “staged” authenticity, where a larger company tries to connect locally in some way. Walmart is doing this with its smaller format stores, for example. A second strategy is to mark your competitors as inauthentic, which Dove does with its “Real Women” campaign. It’s their way of saying that they are honest and transparent, while implying that their competitors are inauthentic … read >>

After 125 years, Coca-Cola marketing chief Joe Tripodi says the best is yet to come. By Tim Manners. Five score and 25 years ago, John Pemberton devised a sweet, effervescent beverage, an innovative mix of syrup and carbonated water, flavored by coca leaves and kola nuts, which some believe he intended to market as a patent medicine.